Can Thinking Fast Slow Down Time in Relativity?

[jaketodd]

In a stressful situation, when you're thinking rapidly, time really does seem to slow down. Like "that was the longest 30 seconds of my life."

Since thinking is made up of the firing of action potentials in neurons, could those events, in the brain, work with relativity to slow down personal time? When thinking rapidly, the brain, as a whole, is "moving" faster, or at least "computing" faster. So, is that why exciting or perilous situations seem to take forever?

 

[Orodruin]

No

 

[PeterDonis]

Since thinking is made up of the firing of action potentials in neurons, could those events, in the brain, work with relativity to slow down personal time?

No, because nerve impulses inside your brain move, relative to the rest of your brain, much much slower than the speed of light, so relativistic effects are negligible.

 

[Ibix]

No - is a physiological effect, not a physical one.

The only way you could get a personal time dilation effect that was noticeable to human perception would be to accelerate your whole head to upwards of 0.5c and keep it there. The side effects of the acceleration would be... unpleasant for anyone in the vicinity, and messily fatal to you.

 

[jaketodd]

If we are the computation of our minds, neurons firing, then wouldn't thinking more rapidly perhaps increase the speed of who we are, therefore slowing time of our beings? An extension of relativity into consciousness.

 

[PeterDonis]

If we are the computation of our minds, neurons firing, then wouldn't thinking more rapidly perhaps increase the speed of who we are, therefore slowing time of our beings? An extension of relativity into consciousness.

The OP of this thread was already borderline personal speculation. This post is now over the border. Personal speculation is off limits here at PF.

Thread closed.